The Dzüko Valley, also known as Dzükou Valley or Dziiko Valley, is a valley located in between Senapati district of Manipur and Kohima district of Nagaland in Northeast India. — — — — — — This valley is well known for its natural environment, seasonal flowers and flora & fauna.

Etymology

The term "Dzukou" is originated from a word common to both Angami and Mao languages, which can be translated as "cold water", with reference to the cold stream flowing throughout the valley area.

Geography

It is situated at an altitude of 2452 m above sea level. The valley is famous for its wide range of flowers in every season but the most famous one is the "Dzükou Lily" (Lilium chitrangadae), named after the mother of its discoverer, Hijam Bikramjit, a researcher of the Life Sciences Department, Manipur University, in the summer of 1991. This lily species is opined by some botanists to be similar to Shirui lily (Lilium mackliniae), with the only difference in being deeper in pink colour.

Ecology

The valley borders a region of old-growth forest, and is home to several rare and endangered species of flora and fauna, including the Dzükou Lily and the Blyth's tragopan, which is the state bird of Nagaland. A number of other rare species are also found here, including several rhododendron species, plants such as the aconita nagaram, and fauna including the Asian golden cat, the Hollock Gibbon, the Dzukou Valley horned toad (Megophrys dzukou), several species of leopard including the clouded leopard, the Asiatic black bear, the capped langur, the stump-tailed macaque, and the serow. It has periodically been threatened by forest fires, which tend to spread quickly due to prevalent wind conditions and are difficult to fight because of the inaccessible terrain around the valley. In 2006, a forest fire destroyed 20 kilometers of forest in the valley before it was contained. The 2020–21 Dzükou Valley wildfires destroyed an estimated 200 acres of forest land, as well as significant flora in the valley itself.

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